B04 



N E \V E N G L A xN D FARMER 



MARCH 1!, 1840. 



A committee cf three, from tlie flower committee, 

 was tlien appointed to draft rules and regulations 

 for the exhibitions the ensuing season, and instruct- 

 ed to report on or before the second Sauirday in 

 March. The following gentlemen were chosen 

 that coirnnittee, viz: J. E. Teschemacher, C. M. 

 Hovey, D. IJaggerston. 



The meeting was then adjourned. 



All of which is respectfully subrjiitted, 

 ppr order 



S. WALKER, Chairman. 



Attest, C. M. Hovey, Sec. 



Approved by the Executive Committee. 



Report of the Committee for rtwardhig Premiums on 

 Fruits, &{c. 

 The Cominittee on Fruits, &c., of the F.iassa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society, have attended to 

 the subject of Premiums for the past year, and have 

 awarded them as follow.s : 



Pears. — For the best Bummer Pears, to Mr 



Samuel I'ond, a premium of $5,00 



For the best Autumn Pears, to Mr Richard 



Ward, a preraiutn of 5,00 



For the best Winter Pears, to Mr E. Vose, 



President of the Society, a premium of 5,00 

 Apples. — For the best Summer Apples, to E. 



M. Richards, a premium of 5,00 



For the best Autumn Apples, to Mr J. L. 



L. F. Warren, a premium of 5,00 



For the best Winter Apples, to Dr Amos 



Holbrook, a premium of 5,00 



Cherries. — For the best Cherries, to Mr E. 



Vose a premium of, 5,00 



Peuelies. — For the best peaches, open culture, 



to Mrs Bigelow, a gratuity of .5,00 



For the best Peaches, (under glsss,) to Mr 



J. F. Allen, a gratuity of . 5,00 



P;um.s.— For the best Plums, to Mr 1. 8. 



Johnson, a premium of 5,00 



I^or the next best, to Mr Samuel Pond a 



gratuity of 5,00 



Fur the next best, t,(^ Mr R. Manning, a 



gratuity of 5,00 



.Qpricots. — For the best Apricots, to the Hon. 



John Welles, a premium of 5,00 



JYectarines.— For the best Nectarines, to Mr 



Thomas Mason, a prpmium of 5,00 



Quinces — For the best Quinces, to Col. M. 



P. Wilder, a premium of 5,00 



Grapes. — For the best Foreign Grapes grown 

 under glass, to Mr Otia Johnson, a pre- 

 mium of J0,00 

 For the best Foreign Grape.', open culture, 



to Benjamin Guild, Esq., a premium of 5,00 

 Gooseberries — For the best Desert Goose- 

 berries, to Mr John Hovey, a premium 

 of 5,00 



Raspberries — For the best Raspberries, to 



Mr Thomas Mason, a premium of • 5,00 

 Strawberries. — For the best Strawberries, to 



Messrs Hovey & Co., a premium of 5,00 



Currants. — For the best Currants, to .Mr A. 



D. William, a premium of ' 2,00 



Melons. — For the best pair of Water Melons, 



to Mr John Hil! a gratuity of, 3,00 



For the best Musk Melons, to Mr E. Vose, 



a premium jf g qo 



For the Committee, 



E. M. R[CHARDS, Chairman. 

 January 11,1840. 



THE CURCULIO. 



JVewtoii, Feb. '26, 1840. 

 To the Eiliiors of the New Eugland Farmer : 



Gk.ntlkmf.n — In the spring of 1838 I sent you 

 for publication the result of a verbal communica- 

 tion, wliich I h-id received from my highly esteem- 

 ed friend Dr P.urnett, and which was published in 

 your paper of that period, on the subject of the cur- 

 culio. That communication detailed the results of 

 a single experiment of his, which in that particular 

 case had proved cou.pletely successful in insuring 

 a large crop of fruit of the plum from the attacks 

 of that insidious and destructive foe to good fruit. 

 I have just received from him the enclosed letter, 

 and also a communxation of his on this same sub- 

 ject which was published in the National iEgis, in 

 June last. These communications J forward to 

 you for publication, as I dcejiithem toth equally 

 important, and the liirts therein contained extreme- 

 ly valuable. I consider it as the best article on 

 the subject I have ever seen. 



Very truly, your friend and hurnble servairt, 

 WILLIAM KENRICK. 



P. S. — Dr Burnett has kindly sent me an accu- 

 rate drawing of the curculio. Should you think 

 proper to have it engraved, the drawing is at your 

 service. W. K. 



Southborough, Feb. 2% 1840. 



Dear Sir, — I received a letter a few days since 

 frorti you, desiring some information in protecting 

 the fruit of plum trees from the depredations of the 

 Curculio. I have not stationed a hen and <'liickens 

 around a tree since the spring of 1837, because 

 they would injure other productions which were 

 near the trees; but I should think from what I 

 know of the habits of the curculio, that they would 

 prove quite a prevention. I have studied the hab- 

 its and cfaaracter of the curculio in the two last 

 summers, fori consider him the only obstacle in the 

 way of raising that fruit. 



1st. I have found that the curculio is on the 

 tree ready for its operations very early, even bef )re 

 the plums are large enough for it to deposit its 

 egg in the;p. 



2d. It continues its labors into August. 



3d. It gets on to the tree by flying, though it may 

 crawl up the body at times. 



4th. It stings the fruit mostly in the night. 



The same curculio that stings the plum and 

 peach I have found repeatedly operating on the 

 apple. I was not aware of this fact till lately, and 

 I do not know but these may be a larger species of 

 the same insect which stings the apple also. I 

 should think they were from the size of the larvse 

 often seen in apples. I should consider hens with' 

 their chickens stationed about the fruit trees, and 

 daily shaking and jarring the trees (for the curculio 

 always falls to the ground when the tree is shook) 

 while the fowls were immediately under them, to 

 prove qi»ite a protection. The supposed remedy 

 should'be applied quite early in the spring, in order 

 fo warrant the greatest chance of success. The 

 small birds are the natural enemy of this insect as 

 well as most of the insect tribe, and it should be 

 the aim of horticulturists and farmers to encourage 

 their multiplication, and to protect them. I design 

 to make further experiments to protect fruit trees 

 against in|uries from this inject, and should I make 

 any discovery or advances, I shall bo happy to com- 

 municate. Were it not for the curculio, most of 

 our fruit would be comparatively fair, and all of it 



free from worms. A gentleman lately informed 

 me that apples and other fruit were free from 

 worms in the state of Ohio, 



By the request of a friend, ( gave the editor of 

 the Worcester ^gis last surnraer a small article 

 "On the Cultivatitm of Plums," in which the cur- 

 culio is described, and some modes of prevention 

 are spoken of in that n-ticlc. I take the liberty to 

 send you that paper, and also an imperfect drawing 

 of that inseci in this Iptter. 



MAGNIFIED DRAWING. 



Rlij'nchoinus Nenuphar, of Herhst. 



" Ceraci, of Peck. 



Curculio of Horticulturists, 



No information could be more important to the 

 fruit grower than a knowledge of the character of 

 the Canker worm, the Curculio, and the Borer, 

 and the best means of securing fruit trees against 

 the injuries which they inllict. 



Respectfully, your ob't servant, 



JOEL BURNETT. • 



From the National .^gis. 



CULTIVATrON OF THE PLUM. 



Mr Ewtor: Sir — I am induced to offer you 

 some observations of mine on the cultivation of 

 Plums. I have taken an interest in the cultivation 

 of fruit for the last eight years, and now have sev- 

 eral good kinds in a bearing state. The plum is 

 one of our hardiest fruit trees. During our cold 

 winlcrs I \mI pear, apricot, peach, and several of 

 the Baldwin apple, by the severity of the cold, but 

 not a single plum tree. Plum trees of almost all 

 kinds are good bearers ; they usually blossom full, 

 and the fruit sets well, and it is certainly one of 

 the most delicious fruits we have, when in perfec- 

 tion. The fine kinds are wholesome and salutary, 

 and can bs indulged in even to satiety, when fully 

 ripe, without harm. They will grow well in rather 

 a low loamy soil ; if the soil is rich, they grow fast 

 and come quick into bearing. 



But the grand obstacle in the way of cultivating 

 this fruit, is the depredations of a small insect of 

 the beetle tribe, which commences its operations 

 when the fruit is quite small, and continues them 

 usually till the first of August. This beetle is 

 called by horticulturists the curculio — is about 

 one sixth of an inch long, has two small bunches 

 or protuberances on its back, and a rostrum or 

 beak, and on this two antennse. By this rostrum 

 it makes a semilunar incision on the plum, into 

 which it deposits an esg. The egg hatches, pro- 

 ducing a worm, or larv.T", which burrows down into 

 the heart of the fruit, eating il through two or three 

 times from end to end. 'i'his kills the life of the 

 plum, causing it to with<;r and fail prematurely: the 

 worm then soon leaves the fruit and enters the 

 oriiund, wiiere it undergoes a transformation or 

 metamorphosis, common to the insect tribe, and 

 then comes up a new curculio, to deposit its eggs 

 as before described. Its work is not confined to 

 the plum, but extends to the cherry, peach, and 

 apple, though it would seem to prefer the plum to 

 other fruit, on account, probably, of the smoothness 

 of the skin, and the greater case in making tlie in- 

 cision. It is remarkable how general its depreda— - 



